Most of the FBI agents fired by FBI Director Kash Patel last week worked on counterintelligence cases, including cases pertaining to Iran, multiple sources told CBS News.

Approximately a dozen or so FBI employees, including agents, analysts and support staff, were abruptly terminated over a two-day period last week after Patel lashed out over the discovery that his phone records and those of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles were subpoenaed by the FBI as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s probes into President Trump. 

The toll records at issue, which include the originating phone and recipient phone, date, time and duration of the call, are commonly sought during criminal probes and do not contain details about the content of phone calls.

Most of the people who were fired worked in some capacity on Smith’s probe into Mr. Trump’s retention of classified records after he left the White House in early 2021.

Many of the agents who were terminated were assigned to a squad that worked on global counterintelligence cases, including those involving Iran. Among the terminated staffers was a section chief in counterintelligence who handled espionage threats, including threats from the Iranian government and its proxies, one of the sources added.

A different source with knowledge of the matter called the firing of the members of the CI-12 squad “devastating to the FBI’s Iran program.” The source said that these agents have confidential informants in the Iranian community in the U.S. “You can’t replicate that with new agents. These sources will go away.” The source pointed out that in the intelligence community, it is only the FBI that has a robust intelligence program in the U.S. because the CIA cannot operate domestically.  

The fact that many of those fired handled counterintelligence cases was first reported by the New York Sun.